Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price shot up 1.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $585.12 and last traded at $584.24. 2,499,433 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 14,998,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $578.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $552.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $511.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.